The subject matter disclosed herein relates to an electrical operator for a circuit breaker.
Circuit breakers employ pairs of separable contacts, an operating mechanism, and releases. The operating mechanism within the circuit breaker rapidly drives the contacts to their open positions upon the occurrence of an overcurrent condition. An external operating handle or toggle is employed to move the contacts between open and closed conditions usually to energize associated electrical equipment.
When such a circuit breaker is located remotely from the associated equipment, an electrical operator can be disposed on the circuit breaker. The electrical operator engages the operating handle of the circuit breaker and moves the handle under driving force provided by a remotely-switched electric motor. The electrical operator provides a storage system of mechanical energy accumulated for a rapid opening or closing operation of the circuit breaker, and provides high energy in a short time. The energy storage system of the electrical operator is charged via the motor, which includes a rotatable shaft that drives a gear set. The last stage of the gear set engages with an eccentric cam that pushes a charging lever with a frequency corresponding to the angular velocity of the last stage of the gears. The charging lever moves a tensioning cam to drive a spring loaded carriage that includes a handle opening through which the handle from the circuit breaker extends. Stored energy from the springs is released to quickly switch the circuit breaker.